August 31, 2015

Momma,

So this week we found some amazing new investigators!  We found a family!  Well almost a complete family haha, the mom said she would join us the next time we teach.  So about 2 weeks ago this guy came up to us and asked us why we were here and everything (we get that a lot since we are two white girls together haha).  But we talked to him and asked if we could visit him one day and he said yes.  But inbetween us taking to him and actually having a lesson with him, he went to our baptism and went to church!  Then finally we had a lesson with him haha!  And it went SOOO well!  Our ward mission leader who got home from his mission about 8 months ago came with us and we taught the restoration.  This spirit was SO strong and also he introduced us to his sister and nieces who were all really interested.  They accepted coming to church this sunday and reading the book of mormon and they are just super nice!  Gosh i love being a missionary!  I have been praying SO HARD that they will progress.  We have another lesson with them tomorrow so we will see what happened in their prayers also!

And to answer your question mother... SO MANY PEOPLE.  We are teaching tons of people everyday!  I cant keep track anymore!  This area is progressing like crazy and we cant keep up haha!  But yes i have been trying to write in my journal more haha.  I slacked off for a little in my other area but i repented and am doing better.

And... ELDER BEDNAR!  Wow we had such an amazing meeting with him!!! It was just our mission and he didnt hardly talk at all... It was like a conversation hahaha!  It was so amazing!  He asked us what we have learned and just kept going with the questions.  He talked a lot about listening to whats not being said and also talked a lot about the principle of agency.  I wish i could write down everything i learned but it would take forever haha!   I did take notes though so in 8 months ill fill you all in haha.  But it was amazing and the spirit was SO STONG!  It was super weird hearing someone speak in english and let alone use words like stupid and dumb and things like that hahah!  I laughed super hard.  Hes a funny guy! 

This next week should be good as well.  We have interviews and have to go to Piura on thursday so itll be a super busy week to make up for that time were going to miss!

Well i love you all SOOO much!  This week go share the gospel with someone!  There are so many people out there that dont understand what theyre missing out on!  This gospel CHANGES lives!  

Thanks for everything family!  I  love you all TONS! 

Love, 

Hermana Lauren Jane Mitchell  

August 24, 2015

Hello!  Wow what another week i had!  I dont even know where to start!  With the best parts i guess haha!  

So last week I talked about our investigator Carlos who looked stuff up onlne about Joesph Smith.  Well, last Monday we had a Family Home Evening with him and another family and watched the video about the life of Joesph Smith.  The spirit was SO strong!  So we had another lesson with him a few days later and he walked in and sat down and said ¨I want to be baptized on Saturday¨ and we were like for real????  And he was dead serious!  I guess he went home and prayed about everything and got an answer and wanted to be baptized.  So this saturday WE HAD ANOTHER BAPTISM!  It was a surpise baptism haha which i decided are the best type! He was super happy afterwards and it was jsut so good!  I will send some pictures of the baptism!

The rest of this week was super busy.  We have been finding and teaching people like crazy.  We have TONS of investigators and we keep finding more.  Its hard to find time to teach everyone.  I love having these types of problems haha!  Door knocking has been pretty good.  Its not very fun...  But we are meeting some pretty amazing people.  We have been reciving SO many blessings and seeing SO many miracles.  I really love being a missionary!  

So this week we have our conference with Elder Bednar!!!  I am SO EXCITED!  It is in Piura so we only have to travel for like 40 minutes and he will only be with us for a couple hours but i cant wait!  It is this friday!  Thats about the only change of schedule we have for this week.  The rest of this week is work work and more work!  

Well, that is it for my week.  I am loving my area, i love my companion!  and i love this work!  The church is SO TRUE!  I love you all so much!  Have such a good week! 

August 17, 2015

Family!  Wowowow what a week I had!  I can officially say that i love Sullana! And that i am super exhausted haha!  I am so happy in my area and the way things are going right now!  Gosh i have so many things to tell you about this week i dont even know where to start!  Well I guess i will start with the best parts haha. 

So this week we had 2 baptisms!  So the first one went very smoothly.  Her name is Ana and she is amazing!  She is about 38 years old and is so happy to be a part of the church!  But the second one was CRAZY!  So this is what happened.  First off her name is Hna. Gianella and she is 19 years old.  She has been investigating the church for 6 months and has wanted to get baptized since day 1 but the problem is, is her family.  They are not fans of the church and want really nothing to do with it.  And for Gianella this was a problem because she REALLY wanted her family at the baptism. So what happened is, well she was supposed to get baptized on Saturday with the other sister, but she talked to her parents and they said no...  So we went and talked to her on saturday because she was really sad and just told her that its okay to wait and that she could keep coming to church and little by little get her family more use to the idea.  So at the end of the lesson we bore our testimonies and the spirit was so strong and then she said ¨my parents are never going to get use to the idea, and I know this is true and I want to get baptized, so can i get baptized tomorrow?¨  We were honestly so surprised when she said that.  And since she is 19 years old she didnt need her parents permisson.  So we called the district leader and the same day she was interviewed and got baptized on sunday!  She the told us after the baptism that her parents dont know that she was getting baptized so we are going to have to help her tell them...  But its all good and she is super happy :)

Also this week we taught a lot of our investigators.  One of them is named Carlos.  Carlos is another teenager that has so many desires to do good.  But this week, he told us that he asked his dad if he could be baptized, and his dad said he wanted to know everything about the church first.  So what did they do?  They went to google.....  WHY DO PEOPLE DO THAT!  He learned so many false things about the church and joesph smith and everything and now he is filled with doubts and questions.  His dad finally said he could be baptized but now with all his doubts, he doesnt want to.  We have another lesson with him tonight.  

Another lesson we had was with Hno. Josue.  He is a recent convert and he is 16 years old.  He is such a good kid but during our lesson this week he told us about the problems hes been having and that he fell back into temptation for the first time in forever!  He had a problem with drugs and drinking before his baptism and this last week he fell back into bad habits. He was so sad about it and went and talked to the bishop and is now trying to fix things.  He cried during our lesson and the spirit was SO STRONG! 

In our area right now we have about 4 investigators with baptism dates and we are hoping to put at least 2 or 3 more this week!

Oh!  Okay so something else new...  President Rasmussen decided to change a couple things here  in the mission.  And from now on, from 6-8 pm we are only to be knocking on doors.  for 2 hours straight we have to door knock!  Its super hard becasue in these hours we have our best lessons! We now have to have divisons with members almost everyday so we can teach and door knock.  It is definitly going to test our faith but we are excited for the challange!

Things with my companion are going so good!  She really is the best!  I am so sad that she is going home soon!  This has been such a good transfer so far!  

I have not gotten the package yet momma but since im not in Piura things will get to me slower haha.  But hopfully when we go to Piura to see Elder Bednar it will be there! :) And speaking of, have you talked to Lynne yet?  He comes on the 28th of August!  

Well, that is it for my week.  I hope you are all doing well and everyones happy!  I love you all SO MUCH and miss you TONS!  Have such a good week and i wll talk to you all next week! :)

Love, 

Hermana Lauren Jane Mitchell :)

August 10, 2015

Mother!!!!  Wow what a week you had!!!!  I can just picture you and sarah up on that mountain in the pooring rain mom haha :)   Congrats Braden and Kaely!!  Baby Lucas is soooooooooooooo cute!  I wish i could be there to see him and hold him but I am just so happy to hear that hes healthy and that everythings good now :)  Send me more pictures! :)

Well, as you all know I got transferred!!!  And i am soooo happy about it!  I was super sad to leave my area and all the people i had gotten to know and love there but I am so happy to be in a new area and get to meet new people!  My companions name is Hermana Shill!  I have an american companion!!!!!!!!!!  I was super happy when i found out we were going to be companions because i know how hard of a worker she is!  She is going to finish her mission in 6 weeks too!  Everyones going home haha!  But she is from Arizona and is super nice and i am just so happy to be here with her :) She also likes to go running every morning so i am going to be getting into shape! haha! I am now in a place called Sancha Cerro, Sullana.  I have only heard amazing things about this ward and this area and so i am super excited.  We have 2 baptisms this saturday and have lessons already scheduled for every single day of the week.  I am so happy to be working again!  I am just super happy right now :)  Today has been a good day haha :)

Well my last week in my area was about the same as always,  we didnt do much but Saturday and Sunday i got to go around saying goodbye to people.  It was super hard for me.  I might have cried haha :)  But i promised them i would come back to see them so be ready to visit lots of people mom and dad :)  

Today i got up early and got on a bus to come here to Sullana!  My area is huge and a lot of it is allll sand haha :)  But i have already met a few members and they have all been super nice to me and i feel like i am really going to like it here :)  The last couple of weeks i have just honestly been praying for the oppertunity to be in an area where i could work hard and with someone i could work hard with.  I know that my prayers were answered and I am soooooo happy to be here!  Its kind of stressful getting to know a new place and a new area but I am just so happy :)

Mom, thank you so much for your emails and all the encouragment you give me.  You have helpled me so much out here.  I think about you and miss you so much!!!  But i will be home before we know it :)

Well that is it for my week.  I will update you all more on the area and everything next week!  I love this work and THE CHURCH IS TRUE.  Heavenly Father hears and answers our prayers and knows what we need just when we need it.  Trust in him!  I love you all sooo much!  Have such a good week and i will hear from you all next week!

Love,

Hermana Lauren Jane Mitchell :)

August 3, 2015

Hey papa!  How are you? I miss you sooo much! :)

Yeah i have seen Cole a few times here!  Its kinda weird seeing someone i know so well haha but its been fun :)  Hes doing really good :)

Things this week have been really hard.... I honestly dont know what to do.  My companion is disobedient to the point where i think i need to tell President about some of the things shes doing but i just dont know what to do!  I feel like im responsible but whenever i try and tell her not to do things she tells me that shes 25 years old and can make her own decisons and that i need to ``enjoy`` my mission and relax and not be so strict.  What do i do dad?  If i dont have transfers next week i honestly dont know what im going to do....  

I miss you tons dad.  A lot of times everyday i think to myself ``what would my dad tell me to do in this situation`` haha and usually i can make my deciones pretty clearly haha :)

I love you tons papa.  Talk to you next week.

Love,

Lauren Jane 

Oh mother i have been looking forward to hearing from you allllllllll week!!!  I love P-days :)  and it sounds like you had a good week as well with girlscamp and everything!  I miss going to girlscamp!  I honestly wish i wouldnt have complained so much about going and i wouldve enjoyed it more...  But i am so glad you had a good experience and loved it :)  Send me pictures!!!!!!!!!!

Well first ill start off with what we did today for pday!  Well, we had to get up at 2:45 in the morning because we had to be at the bus station at 3:30 to go to this little town called Canchace.  Its a town up in the mountains about 3 hours away from Piura and it is sooo beautiful!  I felt cold for the first time in 9 months hahahah :)  But we got to take lots of pictures and see lots of native peruvian people and went on such a cool hike!  The other sisters didnt like it too much but i had tons of fun!  Now i am pretty tired but i loved it :)  i will be sending pictures soon! :)

Well, this week was again, not a good one...  I wish i could say they were getting better but i feel like they are getting worse!  But next week we have transfers so we will see what happens.  I am really hoping i get transfered... I just want to go to a place and be with a compaion that i can work with...  But whatever the Lord wants me to do, ill do it.  But, this week we did have a ward activity and it was SUPER fun haha!  We played games and of course we went in skirts but when they started playing soccer the bishop told me to come play so i did and now the ward knows me as the sister that plays soccer and now were trying to set up times to play more haha :)  I love the ward im in and ill miss them tons if i leave....  

Sorry i dont have a lot of time because we got back late but i love you all tons and i hope you are all doing so good!  ill let you konw how it goes with transfers next week... I am nervous!  I love you all soo much!  Have such a good week!

Love,

Hermana Lauren Jane Mitchell :)